I Need A Doctor
by 78912
Summary: Alfred becomes smitten with Dr. Laurinaitis when he goes to get treatment for a head injury.
1. Chapter 1

I need a doctor

It only took one brief visit to the hospital for Alfred to become infatuated with Toris.

Okay, maybe infatuated wasn't the right word. It was more like captivated, or intoxicated, or whatever—It didn't matter what anyone called it. All Alfred knew was that he wanted to see more of the doctor, and he wanted to see him soon.

It would be in bad taste to call falling down the stairs a stroke of luck, but with Alfred's bright attitude any small mishap could be contorted into a blessing. It was early in the morning—7 AM, just early enough to shower, eat a quick breakfast, dress, and catch his train, when Alfred clumsily slipped down the stairs and bumped his head against the railing. He didn't let that stop him, though. He got up like a true, American-born man would do, grabbed his briefcase, and headed off to work, his chin held up high in spite of the throbbing pain in the back of his head.

All it took was Alfred passing out at work and his boss yelling at him for being irresponsible and "not taking care of himself", whatever that meant, until he swallowed his pride and hauled himself over to the doctor's office, ashamed of his idiotic (and unheroic) mistake. He kept his head bowed as he entered the waiting room, partially because the bright, fluorescent lights where only aggravating his headache, and partially because he was embarrassed to be there.

"Mr. Alfred Jones?" Alfred looked up as he finally heard a polite, high pitched voice coming from the nurse that was at the counter. "The doctor will see you now! It'll be right this way." The nurse instructed him, gesturing to a small hallway as she held the door open for Alfred with her other hand. Alfred nodded at her with a friendly smile, following her through the hallway and into a smaller, more intimidating white room.

It took another twenty minutes of patiently waiting on the cot before the door finally opened again.

"Hi, Mr. Jones?" A short brunet said, lifting his green eyes up from a clipboard to meet Alfred's. "My name is Toris Laurinaits, and I am the nurse practitioner. The doctor is out today, so I am filling in for him. It's nice to meet you." He enthused, holding out his hand and smiling at him.

Alfred didn't know how to react. He hadn't ever been too scared of the doctor's or needles or syringes or anything like that, so why did he feel so nervous? His heart was beating so intensely that he could feel it in his throat, and as much as he tried to force himself to talk, nothing would come out. Alfred took Toris's hand, shaking it gently as he continued to smile like an idiot.

"H-Hi!" He finally squeaked, quickly blushing as he met his eyes once more. "Hi. My name's Alfred—er, but you already knew that, obviously. Hah." Alfred stuttered, looking away with embarrassment and scratching the back of his neck.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Toris repeated as he took another glance at his clipboard. "It says here that you bumped your head and that you wanted to get that checked out? What are your symptoms?"

"J-Just… I'm really dizzy, and I have kind of a headache, and also I fainted for like, twenty minutes the other day." Alfred nearly whispered, nervously staring at Toris's long, slender fingers as he wrote the symptoms down on his keyboard. "S-Sorry, I don't know why I'm so anxious!" He blurted out, quickly blushing and bowing his head.

"Don't worry about it! Lots of people your age are scared of the doctor. Don't worry, I probably won't have to give you a shot or anything like that. Can you show me where you hit your head?"

Alfred nodded, pointing to the spot and hunching his shoulders when Toris gently touched it. "I-I'm not scared! I'm just… distracted." He insisted, staring at Toris's legs in the mirror in front of them. If there was any decent time to stare, it would be now, while the object of his attention had his back turned.

Toris nodded, pulling away and jotting down a few short words on his keyboard before looking at Alfred seriously. "Would a joke help make you less nervous?"

"What?"

"Alright, I'll tell you one of my favorites. What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor?"

Alfred looked at Toris, his eyes wide with confusion. "Um… I don't know…?"

"The correct answer is 'where is my tractor?'"

Alfred met his eyes, keeping silent for a second or two before bursting out in raucous laughter. "Oh my god, that's so freaking _funny! _I totally didn't expect that!"

Toris giggled softly, pressing his hands against Alfred's head once more. "You're the first person to laugh at that joke."

"Haha, yeah, it's a really funny joke! And your accent only makes it funnier—Uh, not that your accent is bad! I just think it's kind of cute. Um, shit, wait," Alfred stuttered, blushing intensely as he looked up at Toris like a kicked puppy. "Th-that's not what I mean! I meant it was… interesting. Your accent was interesting. Where are you from?"

Toris laughed with embarrassment for Alfred's awkwardness, before stepping back and writing a few more things down on his paper. "I'm from Lithuania."

"Never heard of it! Where's that?"

"Most people haven't," Toris said dryly. "It's near Russia."

"Oh, that's cool!"

An awkward, silent minute passed between them as Toris continued the examination, and then another, and then another.

"You… You think it is cute?" Toris finally asked again. "My… My accent, I mean?" His face was several shades redder than it had been prior to his question, and his eyes were shining with anticipation.

"Er…" Alfred nodded shyly, grinning at him as he shrugged. "Well, yeah! It's a cute accent, I'm not gonna lie."

"That's…" Toris laughed, covering his face with his hands before shaking his head. "Thank you, either way. Now, I believe that you may have a concussion, but I won't be sure until we take an x-ray. The machine is broken today, but it should be working tomorrow. Do you think you could make it back here…?"

Alfred nodded, his heart beginning to pound again. "Yeah! I'll go make an appointment." He said, hopping off of the cot and making his way to the door. "Thanks so much for all your help and stuff!"

"Not a problem!" Toris called after him, holding the door open for Alfred as he exited and smiling at him excitedly. He didn't know what it could be, but suddenly, Toris was very much looking forward for tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Slight TW in this chapter for anyone who may have trypophobia uwu/

Alfred nearly ran out of the car once he finally parked it outside of the doctor's office. It was the first time in the entirety of Alfred's young, innocent life that he had felt so excited to go somewhere so morbid. Just like yesterday, his heart seemed to hammer in his chest, his ears ringing as he went into the waiting room and checked in. He drummed his fingers against his leg, his anxiety augmenting quickly as he stole glances over the counter. Out of the corner of his eye, Alfred caught small glimpses of Toris smiling at patients, shaking their hands, and even blushing slightly as he spoke to a friendly young woman who was batting her eyelashes profusely. Alfred felt his cheeks burn up with jealousy, but composed himself enough to hear a loud, chipper "Mr. Jones?" come from the nurse.

"The doctor will see you now."

He could feel his hands beginning to sweat as he stood up, adjusting his pants briefly before striding towards the door and shakily making his way into the examination room. He sat on a chair, smiling politely at the nurse as she left him, and examined the room—a large, intimidating camera attached to a hinge stood at the right wall, adjacent to a long, skinny bed that was contorted at an angle that fit the shape of the camera.

Alfred leaned his head against the wall and shut his eyes as if he was sleeping. He had hardly rested the previous night, and what sleep he did manage to get was plagued by ominous nightmares and anxiety inducing dreams. He had been awake all night thinking of Toris. His dark green eyes were so gorgeous, Alfred thought, and just thinking about them made his pulse quicken slightly. He loved Toris's hair, which ended just below his chin and made his round face seem slightly skinnier, and he loved how deliberately he moved his hands, even when he was examining patients. Alfred had never believed in love at first sight- not until now. Toris was constantly in his thoughts, and refusing to entertain the idea of seeing Toris on a more personal level was absurd. Alfred knew that he had to become closer to Toris, no matter what it took. His heart craved the other man like a bee craves honey, and the longing only grew with every passing moment.

And that was why Alfred decided that today would be the day he would ask Toris out on a date. Waiting any longer would surely cause him grief.

Alfred's stupor ended when he heard the door open. Toris made his way into the room, all characteristically nervous smiles and forced politeness.

"It is so nice to see you again, Mr. Jones!" Toris chirped, grinning at him brightly as he tried his hardest not to make a fool out of himself. Toris had enjoyed having Alfred as a patient much more than all of his other ones, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare Alfred off. There was something about the other man's honesty and blatantly adorable nervousness that made Toris's heart feel warm and filled with a mysterious excitement.

Alfred looked up, his smile widening and his nervousness dissipating when he made eye contact with Toris. He let out a light sigh, feeling at ease for a few moments before remembering that yes, he _was _in a social situation, and that did require conversing. "Oh, hi!" He exclaimed as he waved excitedly. "Yeah, hey. Wow, you scared me."

"I could tell." Toris teased, biting the end of his pen shyly. "How are you feeling today? Is the dizziness any better?"

Alfred shook his head, only to regret it several moments later when his vision temporarily blackened. "Not at all! My head hurts like crazy, and I've been super dizzy all day." He admitted morosely.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully this will help us find a treatment for you! I'm just going to take a quick x-ray to make sure that you don't have any severe damage." Toris explained. "You… You aren't nervous this time around, are you? You do seem a bit pale…"

Alfred shook his head quickly, not wanting to acknowledge his infatuation with Toris. "I-I'm not nervous! Really, I'm not. I promise."

Toris raised his eyebrows skeptically, making his way to the camera and beginning to adjust it. "…Would you like to hear another joke? It may call you down."

Alfred nodded hesitantly, not wanting to seem too eager. The truth was that he found Toris's jokes extremely charming, in spite of how dumb and plain they initially seemed. "A joke would be awesome."

"What does a bee use to brush his hair?"

"What?"

"A honeycomb!" Toris laughed at his own joke before gesturing to a chuckling Alfred to come to the chair.

"That was clever! It really did help, uh… ease the nervousness." He said as he climbed into the chair, too distracted by Toris to properly appreciate the joke.

"I'm glad to hear that, Mr. Jones." Toris replied, checking a few things on the camera as he spoke.

Alfred gazed down, blushing slightly. How could one man be so cute?

"You don't have to call me Mr. Jones, y'know. Just call me Alfred! Anything else is way too formal."

Toris nodded and grinned as he set a heavy blanket around Alfred's shoulders. "…Alfred, then. But I expect you to call me Toris in return! That's the only way I'll be able to do it. Now, you'll just have to wear this thing while I take the x-rays. Okay?"

Alfred nodded, mentally congratulating himself as he sat back in the chair. Perhaps today would be productive after all.

"And that'll be it for the x-rays!" Toris exclaimed as he finally set the camera back into its original position. "They will be processed tonight, and I will call you in a few days with the results."

Alfred nodded his head, his throat feeling thick and heavy as he stood up from the chair. "I-If it's okay, uh…" He started, his voice heightening in pitch as he looked down at his hands. "If it's alright, maybe… maybe you could call me a bit earlier? You know, so we could like… hang out, or… something."

"…Oh." Toris murmured, hiding his face as he blushed profusely. If there was anything that Toris did not expect, this had to be it. "W-Well, I usually don't see patients outside of work…" He began to explain, his face turning a few shades redder with each word that came out of his mouth.

"Oh, uh… That's alright, really. I just thought I'd offer, so… no hard feelings." Alfred interjected, smiling sadly at Toris.

"…You didn't let me finish Alfred!" Toris said, stressing Alfred's name as he covered his mouth with his hand. He laughed to himself, meeting Alfred's eyes coyly. "…I really want to make an exception this time, though." Toris whispered, blushing again before averting his eyes.

Alfred nearly squealed in delight, clapping his hands together as he grinned. "That's awesome!" He exclaimed, running a hang through his hair as he put his other one on his hip. He couldn't believe that Toris had actually accepted his offer. He had prepared himself for the worst, and now that the situation had actually turned out decently, he was completely unsure of how to react. "Wow. Really awesome," He whispered before shoving his hands into his pockets. "So, uh… wow, sorry, I'm a bit nervous," He admitted.

Toris laughed, leaning back against the counter and bowing his head. "We should, er… Wow, I'm nervous, too! You'll have to forgive me, Alfred." His volume decreased with every word that he spoke. "Anyways, are you… are you free this Saturday? If you really wanted to, er… 'hang out', as you put it before, then maybe we could watch a movie and then get some dinner….?"

"Yes!" Alfred said all too enthusiastically. "I-I mean, yes. Yeah. I'd really like that." He added, trying to remain calm. He never had such good luck with men, so the ease he had felt when he was with Toris must have been a sign. "I'll, uh… I'll pick you up at six?"

Toris nodded, scribbling his number down on a piece of paper and handing it to Alfred, his hand trembling nervously. "Six sounds wonderful. I'll see you then?"

"I'll see you then."

Both of them were grinning from ear to ear as Toris led Alfred out of the room. They exchanged their final farewells before Toris moved on to his next patient and Alfred left the office with a skip to his step and a twinkle in his eyes. It was safe to say that today had been a very productive day.


End file.
